Hey everyone, I've got a quick question. I recently brewed a pale ale one the yeast cake of a previously brewed cream ale. I just transfered the beer last night to a glass carboy for secondary ferm. The thing is the beer smells really bad, it has a very distinct smell that im finding really hard to describe. I tasted it and it seems to taste pretty good. Im wondering what i should if after a couple weeks the smell doesnt go away. Would i be able to dry hop and maybe cover the smell up? Anyone have any ideas whats going on?

Personally I have founbd that quite often after a couple weeks in secondary the smell changes quite alot compared to when you first rack it. Id trust the taste of it - you may wanna give it a sniff in a week or so to see if the smell has mellowed some - id say it likely will.

That's a funny thing about homebrew: sometimes it tastes great but smells awful, sometimes it smells great but tastes awful. As grasshopper said, the time in secondary should mellow it out a bit. Although very little fermentation goes on in the "secondary fermenter" this does not mean lots of chemical reactions are not taking place to make your beer more tasty. Let us know how it turns out!